In information security, risk factor is a collective name for circumstances affecting the likelihood or impact of a security risk.
Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR) is devoted to the analysis of different factors influencing IT risk.
It decompose at various levels, starting from the first level Loss Event Frequency and Probable Loss Magnitude, going on examining the asset, the threat agent capability compared to the vulnerability (computing) and the security control (also called countermeasure) strength, the probability that the agent get in contact and actually act against the asset, the organization capability to react to the event and the impact on stakeholders.
Risk factors are those factors that influence the frequency and/or business impact of risk scenarios; they can be of different natures, and can be classified in two major categories:[1] An IT risk risk scenario is a description of an IT related event that can lead to a business impact, when and if it should occur.
These are terms often used in risk management frameworks.